Access to Medical and Care Records
Access to medical and social services is subject to Data Protection Rules and embargoes designed to protect people's privacy when the content of these records is of a highly sensitive, personal and sometimes confidential nature. Whilst you might want to see your own files, or those of a close relative, it is likely that you wouldn't want any other random member of the public to be able to see them whilst you and your loved ones are still alive, which is why such embargoes exist.
ADOPTION RECORDS
If you were adopted or are a birth parent or birth relation of an adopted person, then you need to contact the Adoption team of your local council or the Adoption team of the council where you know the adoption took place and they will make enquiries on your behalf. Our Records Management department do hold adoption records, but they are not accessible via any means other than by the Adoption teams that deposited the records with us. For the county of Bedfordshire, you can contact Bedford Borough Council, Central Bedfordshire Council or Luton Borough Council, all of whom have an adoption team or adoption representative who can answer your enquiries and act on your behalf.
SOCIAL SERVICE CARE RECORDS
If you were put into care during your childhood, you will need to contact the Access to Files Officer in Social Services within the appropriate local authority where you were in care. They will then make enquiries on your behalf and locate your files.
ASYLUM/MENTAL HEALTH RECORDS
We hold patient files from the former Three Counties Asylum (also known as Fairfield Hospital) which closed in 1996. However, we only hold them for a certain period (whereafter a great many were destroyed) and there are embargoes on more recent material due to the continuing presumption of confidentiality. Therefore if your relation or ancestor died more than 75 years ago (so as of 2020 files from 1944 and back are accessible) then the records can be looked at. If the patient of interest died after that date then the records are not accessible and we may not hold a file for them at all. These embargoes are also in place on records from the privately funded Springfield Asylum in Kempston. More information about asylum records can be found in part two of the Hospital Records pages.